NafisaMartin O’Neill has claimed Douglas Ross was “four yards off the pace of the game” when he flagged Daizen Maeda offside against Hibernian, while questioning how the assistant referee even believed he had seen the incident clearly enough to make the call.
The frustrated Celtic manager also criticised the officials for failing to award his side a penalty after Benjamin Nygren appeared to be fouled inside the box.
Celtic edged past 10-man Hibs 2-1 last weekend to remain within touching distance of Hearts at the top of the Premiership table, although the match came packed with controversy from start to finish.
The first major flashpoint arrived when Jamie McGrath was sent off for a reckless challenge on Alistair Johnston. Referee David Dickinson initially produced a yellow card before VAR official Don Robertson advised him to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Maeda later thought he had doubled Celtic’s lead after finding the net, only for celebrations to be cut short by assistant referee Ross raising his flag for offside. VAR intervened once more and eventually overturned the decision, correctly awarding the goal after review.
Ross, the former Scottish Conservative leader, even found himself questioned about the incident while appearing during the BBC’s Holyrood Election coverage.
There were further contentious moments throughout the game.
Celtic supporters were furious that Joe Newell’s equaliser for Hibs stood despite strong appeals for handball in the build-up, while many also believed Nygren should have won a penalty after going down under pressure inside the area.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s huge Old Firm showdown against Rangers, O’Neill was asked directly about the officiating performance at Easter Road.
Although he stopped short of naming individuals, the Celtic boss made little effort to hide his disbelief over the Maeda offside decision.
He said:
“We had a problem with VAR, we had a problem with a few decisions, particularly the first goal that we got.
“The linesman was about four yards off the pace of the game but still wanted to flag for an offside. I don’t know how he saw that.
“And, of course, we should have had a penalty (for a foul on Nygren).”
The comments are only likely to add more fuel to the growing debate surrounding officiating standards in Scotland following the fallout from the Easter Road clash.
Several former referees and pundits have already questioned aspects of the VAR decisions from the match, particularly the decision to allow Hibs’ equaliser to stand despite repeated replays appearing to show contact with Joe Newell’s arm before the finish.
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